The number of unsolicited bulk e-mails (also known as “spam”) transmitted via the Internet has grown consistently over the past decade, with some researchers now estimating that more than 80% of e-mail represents spam. Spam e-mails annoy consumers, consume precious network bandwidth and resources, and may be used as a vehicle for propagating malware or committing fraud.
To help consumers avoid spam, anti-spam vendors may maintain databases identifying spam. When a consumer attempts to download or access an e-mail, spam-filtering systems installed on a consumer's computing system may query these databases for information to determine whether to filter out an e-mail or warn the consumer about the e-mail.
Unfortunately, traditional spam-filtering systems may also have drawbacks. Each query may consume computing resources both on the consumer side and on the vendor side. Additionally, waiting for the result of a query before loading an e-mail may add unwanted latency to the consumer's experience. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies a need for efficiently distributing spam signatures.